Magazine for guns built into armoured cupolas



March 24, 1970 H. LIPP ET AL MAGAZINE FOR GUNS BUILT INTO ARMOURED CUPOLAS Filed Jan. 19, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. HERBEQT LIP? fiDogF NOEDMRIVN RTTOI IUER March 24, 1970 UPP ET AL 3,501,996

MAGAZINE FOR GUNS BUILT INTO ARMOURED CUPOLAS Filed Jan. 19, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 2

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HERBERT LIP? HDOLF ,vmeamn/wv ALQAU- ATTOENEXS March 24, 1970 ET AL 3,501,996

MAGAZINE FOR GUNS BUILT INTO ARMOURED CUPOLAS Filed Jan. 19, 1967 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 FIG. 5

INVEN TOR.

HERB: RT 14 PP ADOLF' NMDMBNN 770A NEYS limited Etates atent 3,501,996 MAGAZINE FOR GUNS BUILT INTO ARMOURED CUPOLAS Herbert Lipp and Adolf Nordmauu, Dusseldorf, Germany, assignors to Rheinmetall G.m.b.H., Dusseldorf, Germany, a company of Germany Filed Jan. 19, 1967, Ser. No. 610,429 Claims priority, application Germany, Jan. 26, 1966, R 42,487 Int. Cl. F41f 9/06 US. Cl. 8934 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A magazine for guns, rocket throwers or the like built into armoured cupolas, comprising holding members which are articulated together and in which the cartridges lying parallel to each other are fed in guides in the form of a loop to the loading mechanism, said holding members being trough-shaped on both sides of a plane extending at right angle to the feed path and comprising at their edges which are parallel to the cartridge axis serrated recesses and projections in such a manner that at the reversal points of the guides the projections of one holding member can engage in the recesses of the adjacent holding member.

This invention relates to a magazine for guns or similar barrel or tubular weapons, for example rocket throwers, which are built into armoured cupolas, more especially of armoured vehicles.

The storage of the ammunition and feeding it to the loading mechanism are always a major problem in the design of an armoured vehicle, since the space available within the armoured cupola is generally very limited and as a result removal of the ammunition and loading of the guns are usually complicated and difiicult.

A magazine is already known which consists of casings articulated together to form an endless feed chain, in which casings the ammunition is kept and is fed in a guide path in the form of a loop to the loading point. In this case the magazine is filled by inserting the ammunition axially into the casings. At the loading point removal takes place in a similar manner, i.e. the ammunition must again be withdrawn from the casings manually in the axial direction and introduced into the weapon. It is clear that the operation of this mechanism is firstly very complicated and that secondly it requires a very great s ace.

A magazine is also known in which the bullets or shells guided in guides in the form of a loop are supplied to the loading mechanism by means of a feed chain. In this case the bullets are conveyed along the guide path in the form of a loop by means of engaging dogs secured to a feed chain. However, this known magazine device also takes up a lot of space and requires separate guide paths for the bullet in addition to the guides for the feed chain.

It is the primary object of the present invention to obviate the disadvantages of the known arrangements and to provide a magazine which is able to accommodate a maximum number of cartridges or the like in a relatively small space and from which the ammunition can be removed and fed to the weapon in a simple manner and in any desired sequence.

In accordance with this invention a magazine is provided which also consists of an endless feed chain, in which the cartridges lying parallel to each other are fed in guides in the form of a loop to the loading mechanism and wherein the improvement comprises holding members which are articulated togther and are trough-shaped on both sides of a plane extending at right angle to the feed path, said holding members each engaging two adjacent cartridges over a portion of their periphery.

The holding members which are trough-shaped on both sides may themselves each form a link of the feed chain, or may advantageously be secured at their ends to the links of two parallel roller chains whose link pins are guided in the looped guides. The latter construction has the advantage of being simpler to make.

The width of the trough-shaped holding members is preferably so dimensioned that at the reversal points of the guide path the cartridges can be inserted into the holding members or released by the latter. This makes it possible to arrange the magazine even in the horizontal position without the need of special guide plates or the like for the cartridges.

In accordance with this invention pivotal means (guide plates or the like) may be provided at the reversal points and prevent removal or falling out of a cartridge. This facilitates the storage and loading of various types of ammunition in that the chain is advanced until the desired ammunition is in position.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a feed chain which can be reversed within a minimum space so that the feed chains may be guided at'a spacing corresponding substantially to the diameter of the cartridges. According to the invention this problem is solved in that the holding members comprise at their edges which are parallel to the cartridge axis serrated recesses and projections in such a manner that at the reversal points of the guides the projections of one holding member can engage in the recesses of the adjacent holding member. In this manner, the magazine consisting of the feed chain can be adapted to the inside shape of the armoured cupola with maximum space utilization and several chains each forming a magazine can be arranged close together in a minimum space, their chain guides advantageously being so arranged that their reversal points for discharging the ammunition lie in the path of travel of a common loading mechanism.

The storage of ammunition for various purposes and the selection thereof and feeding to the weapon are thereby further simplified in a minmum space.

The drive of the feed chains may be of any desired kind.

In an advantageous embodiment of the invention the serrated projections of the holding members can be mutually reinforced by ribs. This results in a very high rigidity of the holding members and thus only very low thicknesses thereof are necessary in comparison with their length and load. This feature also contributes to housing a maximum number of cartridges in a comparatively small space.

Some of the objects and advantages of this invention having been stated, others will appear as the description proceeds when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which FIGURE 1 is a schematic side view of a magazine (partially in section) of this invention, with parts broken away for the sake of clarity; I

FIGURE 2 is a section along the line IIII in FIG. 1;

FIGURE 3 is a schematic perspective view of two trough-shaped holding members of a modified embodiment of the present invention;

FIGURE 4 is a section through an armoured cupola with an arrangement of several magazines according to this invention;

FIGURE 5 is a section substantially along the line V V of FIG. 4.

With reference to the drawings, the magazine 1 conillustrated in FIG. 1 consists of the holding members 2 which are articulated together to form an endless feed chain by means of link pins 3. The holding members are trough-shaped on both sides in the feed plane so that they comprise receiving surfaces 4 of substantially X- shaped cross-section which each engage two adjacent cartridges 5 over a portion of their periphery. As shown in FIG. 1, the trough-shaped holding members may be secured at their ends to the links 6 of two parallel endless roller chains; alternatively, as shown in FIG. 3, the end faces 7 of the holding members may be connected by means of the link pins 3 and thus form the endless feed chain representing the magazine.

The endless feed chain is guided in U-shaped guide rails 9 by means of guide rollers provided at the link pins. The width x of the receiving surfaces of the holding members is smaller than the diameter of the carridges and is so dimensioned that at the reversal points of the guide path of the feed chain the cartridges can be inserted into the holding members at A and removed therefrom at B. Provided at the removal point B is a pivotal guide plate 1 as a barrier to prevent ammunition falling out. This enables the storage and loading of various types of ammunition by advancing the feed chain until the desired ammunition is in position.

To enable the feed chain to be reversed within a minimum space, the inner edges, facing each other, of the receiving surfaces 4 of the holding members comprise serrated recesses 11 in which corresponding projections 12 of the adjacent holding member engage at the reversal points. In this manner, the feed chains may be guided with a spacing corresponding substantially to the diameter of the cartridges, so that several chains each forming a magazine can be arranged close together in the cupola 13 of an armoured vehicle (cf. FIGS. 4 and 5). In this case the guide paths 9 of the feed chains are so arranged that their reversal points for discharging the ammunition lie in the path of travel of a common loading device. This includes a loading tray 14- which is pushed by means of two parallelogram guides 15, 16 and a hydraulic cylinder 17 to a position in front of the loading opening of the gun 18, where the ammunition is inserted into the gun barrel by a rammer 19.

The drive of the feed chain consisting of holding members is effected in simple manner by means of a four-armed Maltese cross 20 which engages the link pins comprising the guide rollers 8 by means of slots 21 on the arms of said cross.

As shown by dot-dash line in FIG. 3, the serrated projections 12 of the holding members may be mutually reinforced by means of inclined ribs 22. This results in a great rigidity of the holding members which may then be made from thin metal sheet.

What is claimed is:

1. A magazine for guns built into armoured cupolas, comprising endless chain means, guide means for said endless chain means, said guide means defining an endless elongated loop, a plurality of cartridge holding members attached to said endless chain means at spaced intervals,

said holding members each being substantially X-shaped in cross-section, each two adjacent holding members being thus adapted to support a cartridge therebetween, and means for driving said endless chain at a predetermined speed, wherein the edges of each adjacent pair of said holding members which are parallel to the axis of a cartridge include mating projections and recesses, whereby at the reversal points of said elongated endless loop, the projections of one holding member can engage in the recesses of the holding member adjacent thereto.

2. A magazine according to claim 1, wherein the re cesses of said holding members are mutually reinforced by rib means.

3. A loading chamber for guns built into armoured cupolas, comprising a plurality of magazines, each magazine including endless chain means, guide means for said endless chain means, said guide means defining an endless elongated loop, a plurality of cartridge holding members attached to said endless chain means at spaced intervals, said holding members each being substantially X-shaped in cross-section, each two adjacent holding members being thus adapted to support a cartridge therebetween, and means for driving said endless chain at a predetermined speed, wherein the edges of each adjacent pair of said holding members which are parallel to the axis of a cartridge include mating projections and recesses, whereby at the reversal points of said elongated endless loop, the projections of one holding member can engage in the recesses of the holding member adjacent thereto, and a single loading mechanism, said plurality of magazines being arranged such that the reversal points for releasing a cartridge lie within the path of travel of said single loading mechanism.

4. A loading chamber according to claim 3, wherein, within each magazine, the edges of each adjacent pair of said holding members which are parallel to the axis of a cartridge include mating projections and recesses, whereby at the reversal points of said elongated endless loop, the projections of one holding member can engage in the recesses of the holding member adjacent thereto.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,437,425 3/1948 Goodhue et al 89-34 2,464,920 3/1949 Carter 89-1803 2,908,200 10/ 1959 Linke. 3,170,372 2/1965 Stanton et al. 3,101,647 8/1963 Greene 89-46 FOREIGN PATENTS 361,753 10/ 1906 France.

251,176 9/1912 Germany.

BENJAMIN A. BORCHELT, Primary Examiner S. C. BENTLEY, Assistant Examiner 

